The Kabota Resort
by hydrarianbeast
Summary: A grand new resort has just opened! For there grand opening, they are holding a large competition, where the best of the best will compete. Can you battle? How are your contest skills? You and your pokemon will have to work harder than ever in this ultimate battle for greatness! But wherever greatness is, trouble follows. Can you handle it? ON HIATUS TILL PROBABLY END OF NOVEMBER.
1. The Application

**Welcome to the grand opening of the Kabota Resort! In celebration of this grand event, we are holding a tournament made for only the best of the best! You will need to battle fiercely, dazzle judges in contests, test your skills at the Pokeathlon, and much much more! Sixteen lucky contestants will be chosen to compete, so get your application in today! Please include**

 **Name:**

 **Home region:**

 **Age:**

 **Appearance/Outfit (additional outfit for contests optional):**

 **Personality:**

 **Backstory (optional, but there will be interviews):**

 **Pokémon teams (Six in party and six extra allowed. Please include movesets, abilities, gender, and personalities. Nicknames are optional, and you are allowed one mega. No legendaries allowed):**

 **Should we need more information for your application, then you will either be contacted or there will be an update to this news letter. So hurry while spots last, and good luck at the Kabota Resort!**


	2. The President's Dilemma

Tianna walked down the halls with a brisk pace, talking directly but kindly to someone through the bluetooth around her ear, which was hidden by her long blonde hair. "I understand, and it's alright. Go find the head of the maid staff. She is a master at stains. She will have it out in a matter of minutes. Just be more careful next time." She hung up, and sighed. This past week had been a disaster. First they get the wrong detergent, which covered a large amount of their pristine white sheets with blotchy blue stains. Then, the freezer in the kitchen breaks, spoiling some of their food. Next thing she knows, there lawn mower breaks, injuring one of their best yard workers. And just yesterday a rotom got loose in the halls, possessed a vacuum, and demolished six floors before it was caught. She shuttered at the memory of all the regurgitated dust and broken decor.

And now there was this. They had just gotten a new supply of grape juice and a bellhop, hurrying to get all the luggage carts in place, accidently hit the cook taking it to the kitchen, and it had spilled all over the lobby of the Gem Palace. This wouldn't have been a huge problem, since the floors are made of marble and precious gems, but Tianna forgot that she had gotten a fresh order of decorative rugs, and had been storing them there until after her meeting with the Head of Designs. Needless to say now they were all purple and wet.

She finally made it back to her office. Going inside, she navigated through the box of papers, making sure not to step on any of the many papers that had fallen on the floor. Her desk, which was usually neat and cutely decorated, had been cleared, and was now covered in papers she had been reading. She sat down at the desk, after moving a pile of papers that was in her chair, and leaned back, exhausted. Her first month as manager of the resort and president of the board of directors wasn't going so well.

She heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she said.

A guy with extremely spiky crimson hair poked his head through. "Bad time?"

Tianna sighed and rubbed her temples. "This whole week has been a bad time, but I can't fix that."

He smiled. "Well, there's no need to worry now. Your star assistant Terence is here to get whatever needs finishing done."

Tianna smiled as well. He was a really great assistant. Along with his witty attitude that kept her spirits up, he was amazingly efficient. "Well, where do I start? Tammy is going to need a lot of stain remover ordered to restock what she's going to use to clean the rugs. Someone will need to place a new order of grape juice. I need to go meet the Head of Designs and talk about the hotel rooms, along with what to do with the rugs. The construction crew on the new arena is behind. The water in the lake is making the pokemon sick. I would mention more, but am I right to assume you have your own list."

"Ah, about that." He lifted up his clipboard which he was holding. "So, the wildlife department wants to make sure that there stock of wild pokemon is approved, the chefs want to make sure that the new menu is approved of after the recent freezer incident in case the new food doesn't arrive in time, and security wants to meet with you and go over there new protocols, some of which you might not agree with. The list continues, but these are the most pressing matters scheduled for today." He looked around the room. "And from the looks of it you haven't finished with this mess yet?"

Tianna groaned, leaning onto her desk. "No. Our marketing department screwed up, and we aren't getting applications for the tournament. Ever since the first tournament's incident, we've lost all credibility. And we can't have a grand opening tournament with four people."

"Can't you just bring back the old contestants?" Terence asked.

"That's the reason behind this. I can't find all of the applications. Without that, they aren't eligible. Plus, I put all of their contact information with their applications."

"Well some of these look like applications," Terence said, shifting around some of the papers.

"Yes, I have some of them, but I can't find them all. I'm missing two." She picked up her list. "Marcus Lanson and Leon Quinn. It's been so long I hardly even remember what they look like. I think Leon was the one with the interesting mother."

"No, that was Nion West," Terence said, looking down at one of the applications.

"Then I have no idea. I've been going through everything from the archives, but it hasn't been much more than a lot of safety complaints from the tournament incident." She sighed, looking at the four envelopes on her desk. "Though it's okay. I couldn't just turn down the few new applications we have. If only I had my-" She cut off, looking at Terence. He had looked away, and was making the face of someone who was trying not to smile. "Terence." He looked at her, still trying to keep it together. "What are you not telling me?"

He started laughing. "I'm sorry. I almost had you though." He pulled out a thin folder from behind his clipboard. "I had finished all of my assignments, so I went to organize your filing cabinet in your room, remember? It was so bad it took me a few days to do. But I had found this. I heard you asking to see the archives, and guessed this was what you were looking for."

Tianna took the folder, flipping through it. "I knew this was somewhere. I distinctly remembered making a copy of all of the applications." She set it down. "But like I said, what should I do with the new applications?"

Terence smiled even more. "I might need to put in a word to the head of the tournament, but I have a feeling I can make some arrangements."

Tianna got up, picking up some of her papers. "I don't know. You've just heard how busy she is."

Terence pulled a pen out of his pocket and started writing quickly on his clipboard. "Should the president allow it, I think I can free up her schedule a bit. And before you ask, it won't be too much trouble."

Tianna straightened the papers, and set them back down. "Very well. I'll make some calls and make sure that whatever meetings you go to they know I sent you. We can discuss arrangements for the tournament later this evening. Maybe at that coffee stand?"

"Ah yes. I heard they changed their name. I think they're called the Midnight Carbink now."

"Yeah, that one." Tianna followed Terence out the door, and immediately her phone rang. She sighed. "After we finish everything today, I'm going to really need that coffee."

* * *

 **Apologies to those who already contacted me about this, but I was wrong. I wasn't getting the OC's sent in like last time, so this will go around I will be using both old and new characters. I had thought about using the old characters, but I was dumb enough to clear out my inbox, where the profiles were. But I found my copy of all of them, and got a few from the original senders. So now, it is a tournament of twenty. Since you are allowed more pokemon than last time, and a mega, I will be contacting all of the original senders of the OCs, and making sure that they have a chance to add any pokemon. If you were one of the original people who sent in an OC, you can expect an email from me this week. Also, you can expect an update most likely around every Monday. (hopefully...) So get ready. The Kabota Resort is about to begin!**


	3. The Letters

**Okay, I'm going to apologize now for this chapter. It is very long, and honestly, unimportant. This was my back up plan if I didn't have an actual chapter done. I kind of got distracted this weekend (I'm a kid I'm a squid. Sorry guys.) so I didn't really work on it. If you hate filler chapters with a burning passion, I apologize, and I promise I will have a real chapter up next week. If you enjoy reading, and want a brief look at all of the characters, enjoy!**

* * *

"I don't know," Samira said. "I should probably get water." Her eyes flipped back and forth between the three drinks: water, soda, and lemonade. "It is the healthiest, after all."

Her infernape raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey, it's important to keep up your health." She said indignantly. He just rolled his eyes, grabbed the money from her, and put it in the machine. he pressed the button for lemonade. The drink fell, and he handed it to her.

She sighed. "That's what I wanted anyway." She popped the lid open and took a drink, looking down at her hometown of Veilstone from the top of the department store. "I wonder if we should train today. I heard there was going to be a contest coming up soon."

She turned back towards the stairs. Oddly enough, a toxicroak was walking up the stairs without a trainer. He had on a rather large backpack. He looked around, saw her, and walked over.

She started to panic. "Uh, c-can I help you?" Infernape straightened up, his hand slightly in front of his trainer, ready to protect her.

The toxicroak just smiled. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a letter, offering it to Samira. She took it gingerly and read it. "What is this?" Infernape read it too. "I'm being called back to the Kabota Resort?" The toxicroak nodded. "That's great, I guess. Thank you." He gave her one last smile, then went back down the stairs.

She sighed. "I thought I was done with that place." She remembered the disasters that happened last time she went to that resort. She was a little disappointed when it was cancelled, though she was more ready to leave. But, then again, she had met some nice people there.

Infernape put his hand on her shoulder. She smiled at him. "Right. We can do this. Now let's get going. We've got work to do."

* * *

"These are so cute!" Kushina said, pointing out a cute pair of red shoes to her delphox. "Though they aren't really my style, are they?" Her pokemon shook her head. She sighed. "I guess we should just get some food. Shopping has been so unsuccessful."

They walked around Lumiose City for a little while longer. She ended up not getting anything to eat anyway, but instead getting a soda to drink. She and Delphox sat down by a fountain, enjoying the pretty day.

"So what do you want to do today?" Kushina asked. "I heard there was some guy showing off some roller skate moves out in the skate park outside of town." Delphox shook her head. "Yeah, that's a pretty long walk just to watch some guy roller skate."

She felt a slight tug on her jacket, and looked down to see a weavile with a letter carrier around its waist looking up at her. "Aw, you're so cute. Do you need something?"

He reached into his letter carrier and handed a letter to her. She opened it up and read through it a few times. "The Kabota Resort's happening again? And we get to go back?" He nodded. "Great! When does it start?" He pointed at the letter. She reread part of it. "Oh, the date's on here. Thank you." He saluted her, and took off. She smiled at Delphox. "You ready for this?" Her pokemon, smiling confidently, nodded. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

* * *

"Oshawott, hydro pump, into the air!" Alex said, pointing to the sky.

His pokemon did as he commanded, spinning his little arms in a circle and shooting the powerful jet of water straight up into the sky. "Now freeze it with blizzard!" Oshawott lifted his head up, and shot the powerful snow attack at the water. It froze, and started to fall.

"Break it with razor shell!" Alex commanded, finishing their routine.

Oshawott shot into the air, removing the scalchop from his stomach. Around it formed a light blue blade of energy. Spinning elegantly, Oshawott slammed his attack into the falling ice, utterly shattering it, showering him in the sparkling ice shards. He did a few flips and landed.

"A splendid performance," Alex said. "What should we try next?"

He heard the sound of clapping behind him. He turned to see an emolga giving him a round of applause. It was rare to see one this close to Nacrene city. He was contemplating trying to capture it when he noticed the small backpack it wore.

"Do you have a trainer?" He asked. The pokemon, remembering now what it was here for, nodded and pulled a letter out of its bag. He took it and looked over the envelope. It was addressed directly to him, with a green outlining. He opened it up and read it. "Oh, the Kabota Resort is back?" The emolga nodded. "Well thank you kindly for the letter." It nodded, and flew away.

He turned to Oshawott. "It appears they weren't quite through with us. You ready?" His pokemon nodded. He smiled. "Then let's get moving."

* * *

"Whoa, look at the corsola!" Rhianne said to her Typhlosion, Tyson, pointing out at sea. She kicked her feat in the water, enjoying the beautiful day in Olivine City.

Tyson had a bag in his hand that had a sitrus berry ice cream cone inside. He struggled to open it. Rhianne giggled. "You want some help?"

He shook his head, pulling hard on the rapper. The packaging burst open, and the ice cream cone flew into the air.

Something burst out of the water, flying above them. Rianne fell over, startled, as did Tyson. Though they didn't get wet, which Rhianne found odd.

"Hey, what was that for?" She turned around to see a Kabutops with a satchel, holding the ice cream cone neatly between its two scythe-like hands.

It handed the ice cream cone to Tyson, who took it slowly. Rhianne scowled. "Don't be rude. Say thank you." Tyson immediately did so.

The Kabutops nodded to him, and turned to Rhianne. Opening up the Satchel, which seemed to be waterproof, he dragged out a letter. Grabbing it with both hands again, he handed it to Rhianne.

She thanked him and read it. "Oh! It's opening again!" She smiled at Tyson. "They are bringing back the Kabota Resort!" He smiled, just as excited as she was.

The Kabutops smiled at them. "Thank you," Rhianne said. He nodded, closed his satchel, and dove into the water, barely making a splash.

She looked back at the letter. "Here we go. It's my time to shine."

* * *

"These curry buns are pretty good, huh?" Leon said to his pokemon. "Not to mention that they make some with pokemon food as well."

They nodded, all enjoying their wonderful lunch from a new food cart in Goldenrod. Leon looked around. He had planned to do some training today, but now he was thinking it might be worthwhile to go on a bit of a culinary adventure.

He stood up, crumbling up his wrapper. "I think I want to find some more good food. Anyone with me?"

They all nodded. Leon turned to throw his trash away but nearly slammed into the ledian flying at face level. He stumbled backwards, and was about to fall, but luckily Evin, his espeon, caught him with her psychic.

He righted himself, turning to face the pokemon. He noticed the ledian was holding a letter in her hands, and had a satchel draped over her shoulder. "Oh, you're delivering me a letter." He took it from her and read it over. "The Kabota Resort? I remember that. Are they bringing it back?" Ledian nodded. He smiled. "Awesome. Hey, thanks for delivering this." The ledian smiled at him, and flew off.

He smiled at his pokemon. "Looks like our food adventure will have to wait. Let's go."

* * *

"These are really good." Madeleine said. A food truck had come to Jubilife City, and its main item was a food called street corn. Madeleine had bought some for herself and her pokemon, and was greatly enjoying it.

"What do you think?" She asked Kumarie, her teddiursa. Kumarie, took a few bites, shrugging. Madeleine sighed. "Guess it just isn't really your taste."

She walked down the street, thinking about getting a drink to go with her corn, when she accidentally ran into someone. She stumbled back a bit. "I'm sorry sir!"

The man, who turned out to be a toxicroak wearing a really big backpack, turned around. It perked up at the sight of her. It reached into its backpack and pulled out a pretty letter. She took it. It was even addressed to her. She read it, and smiled in excitement. "The Kabota Resort is coming back. That'll be fun." She smiled at the toxicroak. "Thank you for getting this letter to me." She held out one of her street corns. "Here, have one." It nodded in thanks, taking the food from her. It took of quickly through the streets, probably off to deliver another letter.

She turned to Kumarie. "This is going to be so much fun." She couldn't wait to see everyone again. She finished off her street corn and threw it away. "Let's go."

* * *

Marcus jumped on the rail at full speed, grinding across it like it was nothing. He then jumped off a ramp, doing a few complex tricks. When he landed, he skidded to a stop. "Nice! Man this park is awesome!"

Siren, his froslass, who had been watching nearby, gave him a quiet applause. He smiled at her. "Thanks." He looked at the rest of his pokemon, who were all doing their own thing. Just another average day in the outskirts of Lumiose.

Violet, his noivern, looked up from her nap. She looked to her left. Marcus did as well, and saw a weavile running over very fast. It skidded to a stop in front of him, a letter carrier around its waist. He started to open the bag, but then looked at its side in surprise and jumped high into the air, just in time to dodge Flash, Marcus's zebstrika, who came barreling past using flame charge.

"Flash! Can you give it a rest for a minute? He's trying to give me a letter!" Marcus cried.

Flash, ignoring him, came charging back. The weavile landed, smiling, its fist glowing blue. It lashed out at Flash, and there was a big explosion. When the smoke cleared, Flash was frozen while the weavile, panting heavily, stayed standing, its fist still on Flash's head. It was also glowing orange. Marcus was impressed. Counter mixed with ice punch. Not bad.

It walked back over, opening the letter carrier and giving Marcus a letter. He read it. "We've been invited to The Kabota Resort's opening?" The weavile nodded. Marcus thought about it. Last time had been a little rough. There was no telling what would go on this go around. Still, the thought of seeing the friends he made there was a good thought. "Sounds like fun. Thanks for the letter."

The weavile saluted him, and took off. As it passed Flash, it jumped over him, hitting the ice with its fist. He unfroze, and stumbled. Before he had a chance to retaliate, the sharp claw pokemon was too far away.

Marcus laughed. "Better luck next time. Now come on, we got to get moving. Time to see what you guys can do."

* * *

Gimli sat on a burnt wooden beam, letting his feet dangle into the enormous hole in the floor. The Burnt Tower was very lovely. And quiet. He enjoyed the peace of it all.

He heard a slight buzzing and turned to see a ledian fly over. Just before it reached him, it looked slightly to the side, and then shot straight into the air. A stream of fire flew by where she had just been. Gimli sighed. Zin, his manetric, must have taken her as a threat.

The ledian, instead of looking scared, as it should have, looked rather offended. It flew down at Zin, who let loose another flamethrower. She flew gracefully around the stream of fire, her fist glowing white. She slammed it into the center of Zin's forehead, and he was thrown back. When he got up, he was stumbling around, and soon fell back down. Gimli raised an eyebrow. That was some dizzy punch.

The ledian flew over to him, still looking a little angry. He smiled. "Sorry about that. He's a little...spirited." She huffed, and pulled a letter out of a letter carrier that Gimli just now noticed. He accepted it, and read it through. He couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, so you're from the Kabota Resort?" He set the letter down. "Well, tell them I'm grateful they're letting me attend." She nodded, and few off.

To be honest, he still found it weird. People used pokemon battles as a pastime. They didn't fight for their survival, they just did it for fun. It was still a bazaar concept. Though it was one he found a little appeal to.

Zin finally pulled it together, and looked around for the ledian. Gimli laughed. "Looks like we have a lot of work to do before the resort if you can be beaten that easily. Come on. We better get started."

* * *

"I can't believe we're actually here," Nion said, looking down at the Nimbasa City theme park from the top of the Ferris Wheel. Eelektross nodded, looking down as well. They hadn't been back here in a long time. Not since they had ran away.

They rode back down, finished with their ride. He wondered what to do next. What he really wanted to do was ride the roller coaster, but that was not an option. When they got off, a pidove came flying over with a letter in its beak. It landed on the railing in front of Nion.

"Is that for me?" He asked. The bird nodded. Nion took the letter, and the bird flew away. He opened it up. "Oh, the Kabota Resort's back!" He turned to Eelektross. "I had heard about them reopening, but I didn't think they would want us back."

He looked back at the letter. The thought of his mother came to mind. What would she think? It always pained him when he thought of her. He had never done many things he considered selfish, but running away always hit him hard. She was so close by.

He shook his head. He didn't care. She didn't hear out his point of view, so he wasn't going to give into hers. "Well we can't be late for this contest," he said to Eelektross. "Let's get going!"

* * *

"Oh dear, it appears Fantina is out of town again," Lili said, slightly disappointed. "I was hoping to get to talk to her again about contests." Her ursaring, who had been staring at a pachirisu play with a berry, brought his attention back to her. He tried to look disappointed, but she knew that contests weren't his forte.

She turned around, ready to head back to the pokemon center, and she nearly ran straight into a toxicroak. Ursaring grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her back. The toxicroak did a good job of stopping, but due to the large backpack it was wearing, he ended up falling over.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Lili said, hurrying to help him up. The pokemon just laughed, straightening his backpack and dusting himself off. He pulled out a letter, and offered it to Lili. "Is this for me?" He nodded. She took it and read it over. "Wonderful. The Kabota Resort is finally ready." She smiled at the pokemon. "Thank you." He nodded, and went on his way.

She smiled at Ursaring. "Looks like we're on our way to a grand adventure. May the Earth Mother guide our steps as we go for victory. Let's get training."

* * *

"How about these?" Mariana said in her thick accent, putting on a pair of sunglasses and showing them to her chandelure. He just shrugged, not really giving an opinion. She sighed. "Be nice if I could buy them." She put them back, and left the boutique, ready for a nice stroll around Lumiose. It was only a few steps before she saw a great pair of red shoes, but she forced herself to ignore them.

She sat down on a bench, thinking about getting lunch. "Hungry?" She asked Chandelure. He shrugged again. She rolled her eyes. "Let us go." They wondered around for a while, finally settling on buying a few sandwiches.

As she was unwrapping one, she felt a tug on her leg. She looked down to see a Weavile with a letter carrier around his waist looking up at her. She smiled. "Hello. Do you need so-some..." She paused, making sure she pronounced the word right, a little irritated she stuttered with this one. "Something?"

He reached into his letter carrier and handed her an envelope. "Oh, thank you." She opened it and read it with Chandelure, struggling with part of it. But she realized what it was. "The r-resort is..." She paused again, sounding her next word out carefully. "Reopening?"

He nodded. She reread the letter. "Thank you for this." He nodded, saluting her, and running off to deliver more mail.

She smiled at Chandelure. "Time for fun. Let us get going!"

* * *

"That was great!" Mason said, getting off one of the rides at his dad's amusement park in Nimbasa City. He turned to his jigglypuff. "What should we do next?" He looked around. There were plenty of people. That could mean a couple of good pranks.

In the end he decided to get a hotdog. He looked around, starting to randomly giving people back stories as they walked by. While he was actually really good at reading people and could easily figure out who they probably were, this was a bit more fun. Not the best way to entertain himself, but one that would do for now.

"I thinks she's a secret agent," he said, pointing out a woman in a bright red shirt. "She's probably a part of some evil organization who wants to steal a bunch of pokemon." Jigglypuff nodded, agreeing with his theory.

He finished his hotdog. "Well what should we do now?" Before Jigglypuff could answer, a pidove flew over and landed on her head. She puffed up and swatted at it. It flew up a bit, then landed on Mason's head. It hooted at him, and then dropped a letter in his hands.

Mason looked at it. It was addressed to him. He read it, then smiled mischievously. "Perfect. The Kabota Resort's back. Thanks, Pidove." The pokemon hooted again, then flew away. He turned to his pink partner. "Things are about to get interesting. Let's get rolling."

* * *

Victor sighed, his feet dangling in one of the ponds on the outskirts of Eterna City. His luxray dozed contently beside him. The sun was setting, mixing oranges and reds with the lovely green color that surrounded him.

He debated heading to the pokemon center for the evening, when he saw out of the corner of his eye a hiker come walking in his direction. No wait, not a hiker, a toxicroak wearing the same kind of backpack as a hiker. Luxray's eyes shot open, and he lifted his head, staring the pokemon down.

The toxicroak, not intimidated at all, patted Luxray on the head, and pulled out a letter addressed to Victor. He thanked the pokemon, and read it. "Hey, it looks like we're in the Kabota Resort." Luxray smiled. They had been waiting to hear they were in.

The toxicroak smiled at him, and started to leave. But before he did, he turned back around, pulling out a poffin and giving it to Luxray. He smiled at him, and went on his way. Only when he was gone did Luxray eat it.

Victor smiled. "I wonder if we'll see him at the resort." He got up. "Well, if we're in, we should probably start heading that way. Let's get rolling."

* * *

Jacob sat at a table outside Cafe Soleil in Lumiose City, observing the people who walked by. His lucario did the same, occasionally taking a sip from his coffee. Jacob didn't really care for people. He now regretted picking the cafe that the Champion loved so much.

"Why are we here again?" Jacob asked Lucario. Lucario spoke softly in reply, and most wouldn't understand him, but Jacob did. "I don't want social interaction. People are annoying."

Lucario shrugged, watching a girl go skipping down the street with her delfox behind her. Jacob rolled his eyes, and then caught sight of something moving very fast. He saw a weavile with a letter carrier come running their way. He seemed to be going after the girl. As he was getting closer to her, a group of bikers darted out in front of him, and he skidded to a halt. Once the bikers had passed, the girl was out of sight.

Jacob smiled. "Rough life. Was she your trainer?"

The weavile turned to him, and shook his head. Then he blinked, as though recognizing who Jacob was, and ran over. He pulled out a letter out and handed it to him. Jacob read it, and raised an eyebrow. "The Kabota Resort accepted my application." He folded it up. "Thanks." The weavile saluted him, and took off in the direction that the girl went.

He smiled at Lucario, trying not to look to satisfied. "Looks like I don't need to be around these people anymore. Come on, we've got to go train."

* * *

"Not a bad day, huh?" Dustin said, letting the water wash over his feet. His milktank, Ida, agreed, stretching out in the sand. After a long day of work on the farm, they were told to go into Olivine to buy some potions, and decided to enjoy the sunset on route 40. With the beautiful weather and the sunset turning the sea gold, it couldn't get much better.

He sighed. "Well, it looks like we better start heading back." He reluctantly stood up. As he did, his hat blew off. He tried to grab it, but missed. Though, to his surprise, it never hit the water. Instead a claw shot out of the water, the hat landing lightly on top of it.

A kabutops emerged out of the water, wearing a water proof satchel. He gently handed Dustin his hat back. "Thanks." He put it back on his head. "What's the satchel for?"

The pokemon opened it and slid a letter out of it. Dustin found this pretty impressive, since he didn't have any fingers or anything. He grabbed the letter with both claws and handed it to Dustin. He opened it up and read through it. "Well what do you know? The Kabota Resort is finished again." Ida sat up. They had heard it was a possibility it would open again. They had wondered if they would be invited back.

"Hey, thanks for getting this to us," Dustin said to the kabutops. He nodded, and dove back into the water, swimming towards Olivine.

Dustin turned to Ida. "Well, since we know it's coming up, you want to get a little training in?" Ida nodded. "Well then let's get started."

* * *

Azura quietly played her flute as the day drew to a close. Nobody disturbed her. That was good. She came to Castelia Park for this reason. The giant pine tree was the perfect place for her to play in peace.

She sighed, putting her flute away and jumping out of the tree. "I wonder what I should do now." She thought about it. "Maybe Cafe Sonata is still open." She left the park, making her way through the sewers and out into the open air of Castelia City.

As she walked towards narrow street, she got the feeling she was being followed. She turned to see if there were any suspicious characters, but nobody struck her as unordinary. She kept walking, not letting her guard down.

Just before she turned onto the street, something landed on her head. She looked up, her hand reaching to grab the object and throw it, and she noticed the smiling face of an emolga. She reached up and grabbed it, noticing a small backpack on its back.

"Where's your trainer?" She asked.

The pokemon reached into its bag, pulling out a letter. She put the emolga back on her head and read the letter. Half way through it, she started scowling. "The Kabota Resort, huh? I thought I was done with that place." Though she did smile, remembering the people she met there. She put the letter back in the envelope and stuck it in her pocket. "Thank you for getting this to me." The pokemon nodded, and took off, flying down the street.

She continued towards the cafe. The last time she was at that resort, bad things happened, and she was sure they would have gotten worse. She was also sure bad things were going to happen again. They had caught her off guard last time. It wasn't going to happen again.

* * *

Ethan sat there, watching the sun set over the horizon, just next to pokemon tower. Lavender town always looked best at sunset. Everything looked gold, turning the dreary ghost town that it was during the day into a beautiful land of hope, before giving it the haunted feeling of night.

He sighed, laying on his back, and closing his eyes. He was about to try and fall asleep when a shadow passed over him. He opened his eyes to be greeted by the face of a dragonite with a satchel around it.

"Can I help you?" He asked, not sure what to do.

The pokemon reached into his bag, pulling out a letter. Ethan took it, and read it. "The Kabota Resort's up and running again?" The dragonite nodded.

He sat up. "Hey Prankster, check this out!" He released his starter, a gengar, who looked slightly confused at his excitement. He didn't usually get excited, but this was pretty big news.

"The Kabota Resort's back!" Prankster's eyes got huge, and he grabbed the letter, reading through it carefully. His face lit up, and he smiled his huge grin at Ethan.

"Thank you," Ethan said to the dragonite. It nodded, and flew off, ready to deliver another letter. Ethan watched him go. Last time, the resort was shut down. He didn't get a chance to show everyone what he could do. That wasn't going to be the case this time.

Ethan smiled at Prankster. "Time to make those guys at home proud."

* * *

Larenz stared at the water, his fishing pole not moving an inch. He knew he wasn't going to catch anything. In fact, multiple pokemon were swimming around, ignoring the line. He didn't care though. It was a lovely evening in New Bark Town.

He watched some of his other pokemon, who were all enjoying the evening as well. His empoleon, who was fishing with him, kept pulling his line out of the water, thinking he had caught something. He brought his line back to cast again, but when it flew forward, something red went flying with it.

"Pull the line back," Larenz, said, wanting to see what that was. Empoleon pulled the line back quickly, and the red thing, which turned out to be a ledian wearing a satchel, came flying back. Empoleon caught it, and set it on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Larenz asked it. It didn't seem okay, looking like it was about to cry. The hook was stuck in its top left hand.

"Here, let me help you." He walked over, gently pulling the hook out. It started bleeding. "Lucario, would you be so kind as to heal the wound please?" His lucario, who had been talking to his gardevoir nearby, walked over, gently placing his hands around the ledian's hand. A wave of pink light pulsed through the wounded arm, and when he removed his hands, the cut was gone.

The ledian thanked him, then pulled a letter out of the satchel, handing it to Larenz. He opened it and read it. "Oh, how nice. The Kabota Resort is ready again." All his pokemon perked up at this. While there last visit had a few flaws, it was a fun experience.

He put the letter back in the envelope. "Thank you." The ledian nodded, flying off. He turned to his pokemon. "Well, there's no use in sitting around with this contest on the way." He picked up his fishing pole. "Time to get going."

* * *

"Man, it sure is pretty out today," Drake said, his feet dangling from a bridge into the river on route 11. The area around Opelucid City was amazing, giving him many places to go after a good day of work with his parents.

He turned to his pokemon, who were all enjoying themselves nearby. His rhyperior walked over, sitting down next to him. They didn't say anything, but sat, watching the sun set over the horizon, coloring the river.

He looked back at his pokemon, only to notice his espeon was tense, looking around. He did so as well. Espeon sensed something nearby. He looked up, and an emolga slammed into his face. He fell over, the emolga rolling a ways away.

"Watch where your flying," Drake said, rubbing his nose. The emolga got up hurriedly, bowing over and over, apologizing. Drake noticed the small bag on its back. "Hey, what's that bag?"

The emolga stopped bowing, remembering something, and grabbed a letter out of the bag, handing it to Drake. He opened it and read through it. "The Kabota Resort? I thought that was shut down. It's back again?" The emolga nodded. "Great. Thanks." It smiled at him, and flew off.

He stood up, as did his rhyperior. "Looks like we need to hurry. Help me round up the others. It's time to get moving."

* * *

Lucas silently ate his sandwich, watching the many people in Saffron City walk by. The Sun was starting to sink, but it was still pretty bright outside. He watched as his raichu happily ate his sandwich, smiling the entire time.

He chuckled. "You want another one?" His pokemon, finishing the last bite, nodded excitedly. He unwrapped another one and handed it to him.

Lucas crumpled up his sandwich wrapper, throwing it in the direction of a trashcan. It would have gone in, but a gust of wind blew it away. He sighed, getting up to pick it up, but then a dragonite flew down, picking it up and throwing it away.

Lucas froze, not sure how to respond to the pokemon. No one around appeared to be its trainer, but it had a satchel hanging from its shoulder.

The pokemon walked over to him smiling. It reached into its bag, pulling out a letter. Lucas accepted it, saying a quiet thank you to the pokemon, and read it.

He nodded. "Hey, Raichu, the Kabota Resort is back." His pokemon looked up, having been unwrapping another sandwich. Lucas couldn't help smiling a bit. The letter had his old name, Victor, on it. He would have to make sure that they knew of his name change.

He nodded to the dragonite. "Thanks." The pokemon nodded, flying back into the sky.

Lucas put their extra sandwiches into his bag. "So much for a long peaceful dinner. Let's get moving."


	4. The Search for the Medallions

"Hello everyone!" Tianna called from the giant platform at the top of the arena. "How are you all doing?" Everyone screamed at the top of their lungs. "Perfect! That's what I like to hear! I am happy to welcome you all to the beginning of the new Kabota Resort tournament!" More cheering. Tianna smiled. "Now, as some of you probably know, we've brought back the original contestants. So, without further ado, I present to you or original contestants!" Tianna was sure that everyone at the resort that wasn't in the arena heard the cheering as the old contestants came out one by one as their names were displayed on the giant screen. Soon they were all lined up in the middle of the arena.

"Now, the fun isn't over yet. These sixteen already had a taste of the action, but four brave new contestants have joined the fight! May I introduce, for the first time here at the Kabota Resort, Lili Grey, Gimli Miralson, Victor Stylez, and Jacob Smith!" The crowd cheered as the new four contestants came out. Two of them, Jacob and Victor, didn't even look at the crowd. Both Lili and Gimli waved politely to the crowd. They too joined the long line of contestants.

"Now," Tianna said, "If you remember last time, the actual competition didn't start till the next day." Some of the old contestants nodded. "Well that is not going to be the case this time around. Your contest is going to start right now!" There was loads of cheering from the crowd, but some of the contestants looked rather alarmed. "Terence here is going to be explaining how this will all go down."

Terence joined her on the platform. "Thanks, Tianna. Now, last time we started with the contest portion. We are more or less going to do the same thing, but it isn't going to be as simple as last time. You see, this arena is capable of changing into many different forms. Each of you will be doing your routine on a different arena. You will not only get points on how well your routine is, but as well as how well it goes with your arena. Here are the different types we will be using for the contest portion." The giant screen displayed the different symbols for the different arenas. Terence smiled. "This is where we start. There is one medallion for each arena type. You find a medallion, you can choose that arena. Should you not have a medallion, you will randomly be assigned one of the remaining arenas." He paused for a moment, making sure he didn't leave anything out. "Oh, I almost forgot," He smiled, "there is no rule against having more than one medallion, but you may only use one for your routine." Some of the contestants nodded in understanding.

"The official events will start tomorrow," Tianna said. "You have tonight to find the medallions. Now, let the Kabota Resort-" She and Terence threw their hands into the air.

"Begin!"

* * *

"I'm not even sure what medallion I would want," Madeleine said, looking at a piece of paper with the different arenas on it as she walked. Kumarie, her teddiursa, walked alongside her, eating some berries.

Madeleine walked into one of the large buildings, which she thought was the one that her room was in, but then noticed everything looked like it was made of gems. "Wait, this isn't the right building."

"Hopelessly lost again?" Someone with a thick accent said.

Madeleine turned, and smiled, seeing the familiar wavy brown hair, white shirt and black leather jacket, and ripped jeans. "Mariana!"

"Hello dear," she said, giving her friend a hug. "It's been a while." She looked Madeleine over. "You've gotten taller. And your hair is just," she paused momentarily, which Madeleine knew meant she was trying to pronounce something she had trouble with, since English wasn't her first language, "marvelous."

Madeleine smiled slightly, running her finger through one of her low blonde pigtails. She used to wear them higher, but she found she liked it this way more. Though she still kept her blue dress and brown leather boots. "Thanks. Though your still way prettier." It was true. Despite her rather worn looking clothes, such as her jeans and old shoes, her hair, curves, and pretty green eyes reminded Madeleine of a model.

"You're sweet," Mariana said. She patted Kumarie on the head, then looked with Madeleine at the paper. "So, trying to pick a arena?" She frowned, knowing something she said was wrong. "Sorry; an arena?"

"Yeah, I was going to my room to decide, but I can't find it."

"They did make the resort bigger and more co-complicated." Mariana agreed. "Do you have an idea on which one you want?"

"I'm not sure," Madeleine said. "I barely could come up with a normal routine last time. Now I need it to match one of these?"

"Oh!" Mariana smiled, then pointed at one. "You should do that one!"

Madeleine checked the one she pointed at. "That one? But why?"

"You can use your rotom again!" Mariana smile got bigger. "He was so good last time. That arena would suit him."

"I guess." Madeleine still wasn't sure. "So which arena do you want?"

Mariana shrugged. "I can do any of them. I was going to find a medallion and see if I wanted it." She started towards the door. "Come on. Let's just go see if we can find any medallions."

"Do I hear two lovely ladies going on a quest by themselves?"

Both girls rolled their eyes as the boy in black jeans, white shirt, and blue and grey sports jacket slid in front of them. As usual, he had his obnoxious black and green backpack.

Mason ran a hand through his auburn hair, and smiled. "Hello ladies. Miss me?"

Mariana chuckled. "Of course. Who doesn't miss a flirt?"

Mason shrugged. "Hey, what can I say?" He crossed his arms. "So you guys are looking for medallions? I can't just let you go alone."

"You would find medallions faster if you weren't in a group," Mariana noted.

"Oh, I already have mine."

"What?" Madeleine exclaimed. "Which one did you get?"

Mason reached into a side pocket on his backpack and showed the girls his finding. The medallion was pretty big with a ribbon attached to it as though it was supposed to be worn. "Pretty cool, huh? I found it on top of an ice cream machine. Well, I didn't really find it, my partner, Jigglypuff, did. It was actually pretty well hidden. If she hadn't jumped up there, I would have never found it."

"Interesting," Mariana said. "Though I wouldn't go flaunting it. Another might take it."

"I'll be fine," Mason said, putting the medallion away. "But still, since I already got mine, I would be more than happy to help you two. And then we can all head back to the building with our rooms in it." He smiled. "Though you guys seem to be missing someone."

Madeleine and Mariana thought for a moment, and then smiled. "And we know there is only one place we'll find him." Madeleine said.

"Only one," Mariana agreed. She got the attention of one of the workers, and called him over. "Sir, do you know if there is a skate park in the resort?"

The man happily gave them directions, and the trio set off. It didn't take long for them to reach the skate park, and sure enough, the contestant they were after was doing tricks on his rollerblades, his black dreadlocks flying in the wind. The sunny day seemed to have made his already dark skin a little darker, but not by much. He noticed them, and came skating over, a smile on his face. He dusted off his red shirt and khaki shorts. "Hey guys! Long time no see!"

"Hello Marcus," Mariana said. "I see you are still as skilled as ever."

"You know it," He said, giving them a thumbs up. "So what brings you guys here? If you think a medallion will be here, I've skated all over the place, and can confirm there isn't one."

"Actually, we want to see if you want to join our hunt," Mason said. "I already got my medallion, so I'm helping these two."

Marcus reached into his pocket. "I actually already found mine as well." He pulled out his medallion to show to them. It's colors greatly differed from Mason's. "I had Chroma, my skarmory, do a quick sweep since she had good eyesight, and she found this in the rosebush maze." He put it back in his pocket. "Since I like this arena, I didn't bother to continue looking. Though I'd be more than happy to search with you guys."

Madeleine frowned. "Though you and Mason already found your medallions, and it hasn't been that long. What if all of the others have already been found?"

"I doubt it," Mason said. "Marcus and I just got a little lucky. I doubt they would make them easy to find. This is a competition after all."

"True," Marcus said. "So where do you guys want to start looking?"

"Wait! Stop!"

The group turned to see a worker running after a whimsicott and sableye, both who were laughing at his failed attempts to catch up to them. The sableye was riding on the back of the whimsicott, who was flying them away.

"Oh!" Mariana said, her eyes widening. "They have medallions!" Sure enough, both the sableye and whimsicott had one of the medal circles in hand. They must have stolen them from their hiding places.

Marcus smiled. "Then I guess we are chasing them." He took off on his rollerblades at blazing speed.

Mason pulled out a pokeball. "Girafarig, come on out!" His pokemon appeared, and he jumped on its back. He offered a hand to Madeleine. "Come on!"

Madeleine accepted the hand, and hopped on. "What about Mariana?"

Mariana pulled out a pokeball as well. "Go. I will catch up." Mason nodded, and Girafarig took off in pursuit as well.

The pokemon had already noticed Marcus, and had taken off. Girafarig caught up with Marcus, and Madeleine couldn't help but be impressed on how fast he was going.

"We're lucky there isn't any forest areas nearby," Marcus yelled to them. "That's got to be where they're going. We have to catch them before they get there."

"Girafarig, can you use psychic on the whimsicott?" Girafarig focused for a moment, then shook his head. "Dang it. They are just barely too far away. If we can get loser to them, we can either stop whimsicott or pull the medallions away."

Marcus pulled out a pokeball. "Then we need more speed. Flash, start running!" He threw his pokeball high into the air, and a zebstrika came out, and hit the ground running. Marcus sped up beside him, and managed to mount him while he was running, still on skates. Even Mason was impressed.

"Now, I can't attack them," Marcus said. "Flash isn't the most delicate, and might send them flying and we lose the medallions. We will try to get in front of them, and make them slow down so you can stop them."

"Sounds like a plan," Mason said. "Get going!"

Flash darted ahead, easily outstripping Girafarig. Sableye said something to Whimsicott, and they started rising higher into the air. "That's not good," Madeleine said. "If they get too high we'll never catch them."

A shadow flew over them. "Not so fast!" Mason and Madeleine looked up, and were stunned at what they saw. An altaria was flying at full speed towards the two pokemon, and Mariana was riding it. It wasn't big enough to sit on, but Mariana was standing on its back. The bird didn't seem to have any trouble keeping her up.

They flew directly over the two pokemon. Sableye spoke again, and they went back down. They then made a sharp turn to the left. Flash kept up easily, making the turn flawlessly, but Mariana had to turn slower to avoid falling.

But the turn did it.

"Now!" Mason yelled. Girafarig's eyes glowed blue, and the medallions shot away from the two pokemon.

Both pokemon changed direction and were heading back for their prizes. "Oh no you don't!" Marcus yelled. "Flash, flame charge!" He slid off the back of his pokemon, who caught fire and ran full speed into the two pokemon. They went flying, and once they regained their balance in the air, flew away, knowing they were defeated.

Mason and Madeleine dismounted, and Mason grabbed the two medallions out of the air. "See? Piece of cake!"

Mariana flew over, and hopped off her pokemon. "Thank you, Altaria." Her pokemon cooed in reply. She walked over and looked at the medallions, then clapped. "That's the one I wanted you to have!"

"It appears so," Madeleine said, taking it. "Are you okay with the other one?"

"Oh it is fine. It'll be easy." She took the other medallion, and put it in her jacket.

Marcus came over, along with Flash, who was eyeing the other pokemon with distaste at there attempts to out-speed him. Marcus smiled at Mariana. "That was great flying! You should be a skateboarder!"

"You're too kind," Mariana said. She patted her pokemon on the head. "So now that we have the medallions, lets head back to our hotel. I think we deserve some dinner."

* * *

"Dang, where are these stupid medallions?" Kushina said, putting her hands in her black and white varsity jacket. The sun was only just starting to set, and she still didn't have an idea where to find a medallion. She knew that she could probably come up with something if she was assigned a random arena, but she didn't really want to take that chance.

She sat down on a bench and pulled the folded piece of paper with all of the arena's out of her jean shorts pocket. She pushed her long black hair out of her face. "Then again, I still don't know which one I want."

Someone sat down next to her. "You find anything?"

She smiled, not turning away from the paper. "Nope. You?"

"Nothing. This is rather difficult."

She looked up at him. "Kind of makes you miss practicing the first night."

Straightening the black vest over his white t-shirt, Alex smiled. "Of course. You can never have too much practice." He pulled his own paper out of his jeans pocket. "So, which one are you looking for?"

"No idea. Picking is hard."

He nodded, running his fingers through his blonde hair. "I know. Then again, I'm almost thinking it would be better not to pick which one you want in case you don't find it."

Kushina nodded as well. "True. Where do we think we should look?"

Alex raised an eyebrow at her. "Who said we were looking together?"

Another person sat down next to Kushina. "If he won't, I will. I've had no luck."

Kushina smiled at him. "And who said I would work with you?"

Larenz straightened his black vest as well, but his was over a teal long sleeve shirt. "Well, you had seemed open to working in a group. Was I wrong?"

She playfully slapped his black fedora down over his face. "Of course I'm willing to work in a group. I've had no luck on my own."

He straightened his hat, along with the teal band around the brim, and pulled his piece of paper out of his jean shorts pocket. "I've been asking around as well as looking, trying to keep tabs on the other contestants. I know Marcus, Mariana, Madeleine, and Mason already have their medallions. I have no idea about Leon, Samira, or Azura, since I hadn't heard anything about what they've been up to, but everyone else is still looking. Though I heard a rumor than none of us are going to like." He looked at them. "Someone has three."

"That's not good." She put her paper back in her pocket. "Then we better get moving. Who's got a good idea where to look?"

"No idea." Larenz said. "We might as well start wandering."

The group got up and started walking. The sun sank lower in the sky, and so did their hopes at finding anything. Soon the sun was setting, and they found themselves back at the hotel where the contestants were staying. They went inside. "Well that was unsuccessful." Kushina said. "I'm going to call it quits and head for the pool."

"Yeah, I'm calling it too," Alex said.

Larenz nodded. "I guess I could go for a break. I'll be in the lobby if you guys want to continue looking."

They all went their separate ways, and it wasn't even five minutes before they all met back in the lobby. Kushina had barely dried off from her brief visit to the pool. "Guys, I found one!" She exclaimed, showing it to them. "I found it at the bottom of the hot tub!"

"And I found mine when I nearly knocked over a lamp," Alex said. "It was inside it. They really weren't joking around with these hiding places."

Larenz leaned back in his chair. "I guess I should have quit as well."

Kushina smiled at him. "Don't worry, we'll help you find one."

"You just need to be a little creative."

Kushina smiled at the boy in the dark blue jacket and red scarf. "Hey Nion. Did you find a medallion."

He pulled his out of the back pocket of his black jeans. "Just found it a few minutes ago. They are hidden pretty well. But they aren't too hard to find."

"Though it appears that everyone has found theirs by luck," Larenz said, leaning farther back in the chair. Then his eyes widened, and he started walking briskly towards the door.

"Wait up!" Kushina said, following him, along with Alex and Nion. "What's up?" She looked back at the ceiling above him, but didn't see anything interesting.

Once they were outside, Larenz pulled out a pokeball. "Braviary, come on out!" His pokemon appeared. Larenz pointed upwards. "Go, get the medallion." Braviary nodded, and flew up towards the roof. Soon he was back, a medallion in his beak.

"Where was it?" Kushina asked as they walked back inside.

"On the skylight," Larenz said, pocketing the medallion. "I saw it when I leaned back."

When they returned to the lobby, they were surprised to see four contestants sitting on some couches around a coffee table. They all looked exhausted. "No luck?" Kushina asked?

"None." The reply was muffled by the brown fedora with a red feather that was over the speakers face. He had his thumbs in the pockets of his skinny jeans, which Kushina found kind of weird since he was wearing a green jacket.

"Tough break," Kushina said, sitting next to him. "If I remember right, your Drake?"

Drake lifted his hat up, revealing his jet black hair, tired amber eyes, and big smile. "In the flesh. Guess we never really did talk any."

"So none of you found anything?" Alex asked, him and Larenz also sitting down.

"Nothing," the girl next to Alex said. She took her hands out of her indigo jacket, which was covering a white blouse, and started searching the pockets of her floral pattern jeans. "And I lost my paper, so I can't even prepare."

Alex took his paper out. "Here, you can have mine." She took it, mumbling a thanks.

Drake smiled. "Rhianne there covered a whole lot of the resort. When I found her, she had already scanned a whole third of it." He looked at the guy next to Larenz, who was in just a white t-shirt and jeans, with a straw hat over his eyes. "But that man over there was Dustin us all."

He lifted his hat up. "Ha ha. Very funny." Dustin did have a slight smile, though.

"Though this guy right here was the real Victor," Drake said, nudging the guy next to him. "When he arrived, all he had to do was Lucas over and he was sure he had checked more hiding spots than any of us."

"Wonderful. You managed to get my old name and new name."

"You're old name?" Kushina asked, confused. "Aren't you Victor?"

"Not anymore. My name's Lucas now." He sat up, fiddling with the silver necklace around his neck. His dark red v neck, black leather jacket, and messy black hair reminded Kushina of a biker.

"You should hear him," Drake said. "He's been a real Chatty Kathy. I'm pretty sure he's spoken more today than he did during the entire resort last time." He looked at someone walking by in a pine green hoodie. "Speaking of quiet people." He started waving. "Hey! Jacob, is it? Did you find any medallions?"

Jacob barely glanced over, shook his head, and kept walking. Rhianne scowled. "Wonder what's his problem."

"He's an interesting one, that's for sure," Drake said. He leaned back. "I guess the rumor of someone having seven medallions is true."

"We heard that too."

Two more people joined the couch party. The speaker was a girl in a white dress, brown belt, and denim jacket, and the other was a boy who looked a bit like a mix between Drake and Lucas, with a black leather jacket as well, but his v neck was silver with a pair of golden swords crossed on it. Both were pretty tan, but the boy's was more golden and the girl's looked more like a Native American. The girl had a couple of pieces of jewelry, but no bracelet, and Kushina noted the guy's white belt buckle was shaped like a Steelix.

Drake smiled. "Hey, you two are two of the new guys, right? Don't tell me," he thought about it, "you're Victor and Lili."

"Right," the girl said. "We looked for medallions together. I had found mine already, though we weren't able to find another. It would seem someone is collecting a lot of medallions."

Drake nodded. "Whoever they are, they got some serious skill. Hopefully we all will be okay tomorrow. And whoever does have those medallions better put on a good show."

* * *

Azura rubbed her arm, eyeing the outdoor coffee shop. The sun had long since set, and the moon was high in the sky. She thought this was the same coffee shop that she went to last time, but they were different now. There name had changed, and they were now called the Midnight Carbink. There lovely midnight and coffee colors were also very lightly accented with warm looking pink, blue, and grey. It felt peaceful, which Azura knew almost never went well for her.

She debated just going back to her room, but then an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She was ready to attack, but then a familiar voice spoke. "So you came to find this place again as well?"

She grinned just slightly. "Hello, Leon."

The smiling face of her competitor met her gaze. "Oh come on. It's been practically a year since you last saw me. I'm certain you can do better than a hello." Azura rolled her eyes at him. Though she had to be honest, she had sort of missed him. His blue and white hoodie and black running shorts were the same as ever, but his golden hat, which he always wore backwards with goggles strapped to it, was dirty. She assumed it had gotten dirty when he had looked for the medallions.

"G-give her a-a break," a tentative voice said from the other side of Leon.

Azura's grin got a little bigger. "Hello, Samira. Did he drag you over here with him?"

"Yes," the girl said, pouting a little. This had been the second competitor Azura had met. Samira hadn't changed much either. She still had her blue shirt, leather jacket, and long black jeans. Her hat, which was a soft beanie, was clean, so she hadn't searched with Leon. Azura always thought that Samira kind of looked like a model, with her long curly black hair that covered her right eye and curvy figure, but her face gave her more of a cute appearance.

Leon smiled at both of them, "Come on, we all knew we would show up here again. Let's get some coffee."

As they walked up to the coffee shop, the man behind the counter smiled. That smile, along with the slicked back and neat brown hair that had greeted them last time. "Well if it isn't my three favorite contestants. I didn't know if I would be seeing you again."

"Well of course you would!" Leon said, smiling. "You're coffee was amazing."

"Though why did you remodel?" Azura asked.

He chuckled. "Oh, just thought this would maybe help business. I recently went to Kalos and got to explore a cave with a bunch of carbink in it, and thought it would make a good theme for my shop. I did consider using your hoodie as a theme, though."

Azura blushed slightly, not knowing whether to take this as a compliment or a joke. Her black drawstring hoodie had tribal designs on it, with a wolf going from her left sleeve to her chest, and a dragon on the back. Though it was a little ratty looking, with the right sleeve torn off at the elbow.

Leon looked at Azura. "You know, I think you in general would make a good theme for a coffee shop." Leon thought that the best way to describe Azura was Dark Alley in Castelia City. Her hoodie and green cargo pants gave her a slightly edgy look, but it was the bandage, gauntlet, and hair that really did it. Her right arm was covered in bandages, though it still had the same black fingerless glove as the left arm. And she also wore a huge guantlet, with a long guard covering the elbow. And her short black hair had red bangs that covered half of her left eye, which was fully covered by a bandage. Though despite all of this, her revealed eye was brown and warm, just like her skin. "Dark and strong, but not bitter. Sounds like a place I would want to go." He turned to Samira. "You could own one too. Quiet and refined, but sweet." He looked back and forth between the two. "Actually, I never noticed, but you two look very similar."

"We do not," Azura said.

"Y-yeah," Samira agreed.

The man laughed. "Well now that you mentioned it, you two could be sisters." He started setting cups of coffee on the counter that none of them had noticed he made. "I never forget a good customer's order. These are on the house. Oh, and I made sure to make four for you." He winked at Azura.

"W-we couldn't j-just not pay," Samira said.

"Sure you can. Just tell all of your friends."

Azura grabbed the cups. "Thank you, sir."

He laughed. "No need to use sir. Call me Martin."

"Well Martin, you certainly are the best coffee shop owner I've ever seen," Leon said, smiling. The trio went over to a table, and started happily drinking their coffee, enjoying the night. About halfway through Azura's second cup, another person came to the coffee shop. She recognize the simple grey short sleeve shirt, dark blue jeans, and black hair. He was another competitor. He got himself a cup of coffee, and sat at a rather far away table.

Leon, recognizing him too, smiled. "You really going to sit all the way over there by yourself?"

The boy looked up, and slowly came over, taking their final seat. "Sorry."

"Y-your fine," Samira said.

"Samira and I would probably also be sitting alone if it wasn't for this one," Azura said.

Leon shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a people person. You're Eathan, right?"

He nodded. "And you guys are Leon, Samira, and Azura?"

Leon nodded as well. "You got it. Did you find a medallion?"

He shook his head. "No. Not even a trace of one."

Leon sighed. "Me neither. I was sure when I found this cave that there was going to be one in there, but there wasn't. I didn't check anywhere else thoroughly."

"I d-didn't see one either," Samira said.

"Nor I," Azura said.

"Tough break."

They all turned to see another person who had come to the coffee shop. He was one of the new contestants. He looked like someone who had been taking a survival challenge in a forest. His long reddish brown hair was tied into a ponytail with a few leaves and twigs sticking out of it. He had on a worn looking brown jacket, an orange singlet, and dark red pants, which, like his jacket, was covered in pockets. around his neck was a necklace of sharp claws and a black rock with veins of red going through it. Around his waist was a belt with a few pouches and a huge hunting knife strapped unsheathed to it. He had pretty tan skin and was pretty well built.

He smiled at them, revealing sharpened canines. His eyes were half closed, making him look like he was tired and curious. "I see I wasn't the only one who thought of coming here. I thought I would be the only one who knew that this place would be connected to a medallion."

"What?" Leon said. "It is?"

The competitor smiled. "Indeed." He turned to Martin. "So are you going to tell me where it is?"

Martin smiled. "Good evening sir, what might your name be."

"Gimli." Gimli leaned forward on the counter. "You know about where a medallion is. Only two are left."

Martin nodded. "I do know something about them. You pass my test, and I will tell you what I know."

Gimli straightened up. "What is the test?"

He placed a cup of coffee on the counter. "Have a taste."

Gimli picked up the cup, and took a long sip. "It is good."

Martin observed him for a moment. "Very well then. I only know that there is a medallion somewhere at the hotel where you all stay. That is all I know."

Gimli thought about this. "I thought they all had found the ones at the hotel. Maybe they had missed one." He smiled again at the group of competitors. "See you all tomorrow." He set off for the hotel. Azura scowled. He might have seemed friendly enough, but she saw right through that. He was not someone to be taken lightly.

Apparently Martin did as well. "Something is certainly odd about that one." He brought four cups over to their table. "You all might as well take the test too, just for fun."

They all thanked him, and took a sip of their new coffee. Immediately all of their faces broke out into a smile. "This is amazing!" Leon said, starting to chug his.

"Outstanding," Samira said, breathless.

Azura looked at Ethan, and they both almost started laughing. "It's wonderful," Azura said.

Ethan nodded. "Gimli really didn't do it justice."

Martin smiled. "All of you, unlike Gimli, passed the test."

Leon, who had been trying to get the last drop, out of his cup, looked at Martin. "We did?"

Martin nodded. "You see, this is a very special coffee I learned how to make in Kalos, and is the real reason I remodeled. You can tell the true personality of anyone who drinks it. And it doesn't matter who you are, it will make you smile. You, who acts like your true self all the time, acted no different than anyone would have expected. Though Ethan and Azura almost started laughing, which no one really would have guessed. You all were honest with yourselves, and shared your smile with me. That was the test."

"So how did Gimli fail?" Samira asked, a little surprised she didn't stutter.

Martin smiled. "From his drink, I could tell he is a good person, but he thought it was too sweet. This means his view is different from most trainers who would drink it. He finds certain things odd, and possibly unnecessary. But he has a good heart. He failed because he lied to me. He thought that if he told me it was good, he would pass, but that wasn't what I was looking for." He reached into his apron, and pulled out two medallions. "Here they are."

Azura frowned. "These are the only ones you have?"

He nodded. "I'm afraid so."

Azura thought about it. "Then I don't need one. I'm not that good at contests anyway."

"I'm not that great either," Ethan said. "Samira and Leon can have them."

Leon shook his head. "Actually, Samira, Azura, and I made a deal last year. We would do what we could to help each other reach the top together." He took one of the medallions, and slid it to Azura. "You take that one."

"But I can't match it."

"Exactly," Leon said, grinning. "Your specialty is battling, not coordinating. Every contest has a battle portion, where style still counts. You can easily beat anyone, but you might not be able to out-coordinate them. They should match us up by scores, so if you fight someone who also scored low, you won't have to really worry as much about style."

He then took the other. "And, since you are now an honorary member of this coffee drinking group," he slid the final medallion to Ethan, "you get this one." He turned to Samira. "You okay with that?"

She nodded. "I-I'll be j-just fine."

He nodded. "Good. So will I. I was actually already preparing in case I didn't get a medallion."

Martin smiled. "Well, I'll be rooting for you guys."

Leon smiled as well. "Then you better get ready. We are going all the way to the top. Now let's do this thing!

* * *

 **So, sorry I was a day late. I tried to finish this up yesterday, but didn't quite make it. There won't be an update next week, since I'm going to be camping, but you can expect to see something early in the week after that. So, what do you think? Who has the most medallions? What arenas do you think are going to be used? Who do you think will be paired against who? I'd love to hear what you guys think.**


	5. The First Attack

"That guard was really nice," Madeleine said, walking back to her room with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. Kumarie had one as well. It was probably getting close to two in the morning, but Madeleine hadn't been able to sleep, so she had gone down to the lobby. The guard who was on the night shift had greeted her and happily made her the drink she now had. She hoped he worked every night.

As she rounded the corner, she nearly ran into someone. She stumbled backwards. "Sorry!"

The girl who she had nearly hit also took a few steps back, making sure she didn't spill her coffee. "You're fine." She noticed who Madeleine was. "Isn't it a little late for you, Madeliene?"

Madeleine recognized the girl as another contestant. "Oh, hi Azura. I guess it is a little late, but I was having trouble sleeping."

Azura nodded. "I know the feeling. I drink so much coffee that I tend to stay up pretty late."

The two girls started walking back to their rooms. "So did you find a medallion?" Madeleine asked.

Azura nodded. "I did, but I won't be able to match it."

"That's a bummer." Madeleine tried to think of something else to say, but, to be honest, she found Azura to be pretty intimidating.

"It's nice that they improved security," Azura said.

Madeliene nodded. "I know. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time. And I like how nice the guards are."

"I've yet to find a bad worker here," Azura noted. "They must have really had a hard time getting such great staff."

Madeleine nodded. They had reached the hallway that had all of the contestants' rooms. Madeleine stopped in front of hers. "Well, this is my room. Guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Azura nodded. "Good luck. And sleep well." She continued down the hall, and Madeleine pulled out her card key and opened the door.

The rooms were really nice. They had a simple design, but everything was soft and homey. She put down her drink on the bedside table, but then felt a chill go down her back. She turned around, and her eyes widened.

* * *

Azura entered her room after leaving Madeleine, her face kind of hot. She hadn't really wanted to see anyone else after being at the Midnight Carbink, since it took literally every bit of social skill she had to tolerate Leon. She hadn't done a very good job at talking to the girl. She sighed. She didn't like being around other people. She wasn't good at it.

She was about to put her coffee down and try to go to bed when she heard something that woke her up far more than the coffee.

A high pitched scream came from the end of the hallway, where Madeleine's room was.

"Madeleine!" Azura yelled, sprinting out of the room. She ran as fast as she could down the hallway. Luckily Madeleine's door wasn't closed. She ran in to see a cloaked figure looming over the girl, who was being shielded the best she could by her teddiursa, Kumarie.

Pure fear and rage gripped her heart. The claws that had been hidden in her gauntlet slid out, and she sprung at the assailant. "Get away from her!"

The cloaked figure jumped away just barely before Azura swiped through the space he had just been in. He kicked open the window, and jumped out, Azura ran over to it, and saw him fly away on the back of a pokemon that she thought was a dragonite.

She sheathed her gauntlet's claws, and ran over to Madeleine. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

She shook her head, tears starting to form. "He attacked me from behind. If Kumarie hadn't seen him..."

Azura did something that surprised even her. She grabbed Madeleine and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. He's gone now."

Azura heard people running down the hall, and soon all of the contestants were there, most in pajamas of some sort. "We heard the scream," Leon said, looking horrified. "What happened?"

"Someone attacked Madeleine," Azura said.

"No," Mariana said, her eyes widening.

"Do you think they are the same people who kidnapped us?" Rhianne asked.

"Most likely," Azura said. She let go of Madeleine, and stood up. "Madeleine was one of the two that rescued us who were captured last time. They might have tried to stop her first because of this."

Madeleine took a shaky gasp, and started to cry. Mariana hurried forward and sat down next to her. Madeleine wrapped her arms around her and buried her head in her shoulder. Marcus grabbed the pokeball on the tv stand, and withdrew Kumarie.

Mason looked furious. "This can't be happening again. It isn't fair. And how dare they go for her first."

Azura heard more footsteps running towards them. "Heads up."

"Contestants!" Someone down the hallway yelled.

"We're in here," Leon yelled back.

A man with crimson red hair appeared in the doorway two guns in hand. He looked horrified. "Is everyone okay?"

Lucas recognized him as Terence. "Yeah, we're okay."

He sighed with relief, leaning against the doorframe. "Oh, thank goodness. I was checking on the security and then I heard the scream."

"Yeah, would you like to explain how someone got past your wonderful new security?" Azura said.

"There were three guards on duty," Terence said. "One was in the lobby, one was monitoring the security cameras, and one was in the halls a few floors down. I came to check on them, and see how things were going, but I found them all unconscious. They were drugged."

"Drugged? How?" Drake asked. "Did he give them drinks or something?"

Terence shook his head. "When I saw them, I immediately checked for a pulse. In doing so, I found a small hole in each of their necks, as though they were stabbed with a needle. He injected them with some kind of drug. And then he stole the master card key, which allowed him to get into the rooms."

Madeleine took her head out of Mariana's shoulder. "Wait, when he attacked me, I thought he had a knife." She was trying really hard to keep it together. "Though now that you mention it, it was too tiny. He must have been trying to drug me t-to." She took a shaky gasp, and put her head back in Mariana's shoulder.

There was a moment of silence, with only Madeleine making any noise. "So," Marcus said, "what now?"

"Well I don't think anyone wants to go back to bed," Rhianne said.

Terence walked out of the room. "I've got it covered." There was another moment of silence, then the walls slowly started retracting, revealing the rooms next to them. What appeared to be every room on their side of the hall did this.

Terence came back in. "We added this feature for large families that would come on trips so they could have connecting rooms. Does anyone mind sharing a bed?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. This way everyone can be in the same room. The guards will be coming around any time now, and will be on high alert. Plus more guards are coming. I personally will keep watch outside. I'll also make sure that the master key that got stolen gets disabled. We added a feature which allows us to wipe them in case they are stolen. If any of you need anything, just ask me or call to the front desk downstairs." With that, he walked outside, shutting the door behind him.

Everyone was silent for a minute. "Well, I guess staying up isn't going to do us any good. Guys on one side, girls on another?" Everyone nodded or mumbled in agreement. "Then let's go ahead and try to get to bed.

"Madeleine, can you get up?" Mariana asked. Madeleine nodded, making her way to the bed. Everyone else started breaking off and going different directions. Azura made her way to the middle door, and leaned against it.

Leon walked over to her. "You going to keep guard as well."

"Partially. I will be sleeping here. There are more guys than girls anyway."

Leon sat down next to her. "You know, you did a great job, helping Madeleine."

Azura scowled. "I was with her going to the rooms. I should have heard him behind us."

Leon patted her head. "Hey, we're dealing with a pro. There's no way he would have let himself get caught by you. But now we know about him, so he'll have a harder time getting to us."

Azura nodded. "I wonder what the new contestants think about this."

"Well, Lili and Victor looked pretty shaken up," Leon said. "Jacob too, but not as much. I have no clue what Gimli thought, though. His face was perfectly unreadable."

Azura scowled. "He's a tricky one, that's for sure."

Leon nodded. "Then again, he did take the coffee test. Martin thinks he's an okay guy."

Azura sighed. "I guess I'm just a little on edge."

"We all are. Let's just try to get some rest, and we can deal with that guy tomorrow." He got up, and as he passed a couch, he stopped. Pulling all the cushions off, he pulled out another bed. "You can take this bed if you want it. I'm sure Terence has the security down." He walked off.

Azura sighed, and stayed against the wall for a bit. After a while, she got up, and looked everyone over. Most appeared to be asleep. At least Madeleine was. That was good. Mariana had an arm wrapped protectively around her. Azura couldn't help but smile a little. They were all competing against each other, but everyone seemed to be making such strong bonds. She stifled a yawn, and decided to take up Leon's offer. Crawling on the sofa bed, she laid down, and drifted off to sleep, thinking about the same thing about everyone else.

Who was that guy, and why was he attacking them?

* * *

 **So, sorry about the slightly underwhelming chapter. I've been traveling a lot lately, and haven't really had any chances to write. I wanted to start on the actual contests, but that didn't happen. So, what are your thoughts? Who could the guy be? Why did he go for Madeleine? When, if at all, will he strike again? Just for warning, I'm about to be gone the next two weeks, and will probably not be able to write during that time. I will try, and am super sorry I haven't been able to stick with my weekly update plan.**


	6. The First Five

"Has anyone seen my medallion?" Lili asked, walking around and checking under stuff. She didn't get much reply with everyone trying to get ready. She, along with a few of the others, had gotten up a little earlier than others to get on their contest outfits. She now wore a tight white dress, a belt made of silver and black leather, and black heels. She also wore a turquoise necklace that reached her mid chest, along with a matching bracelet, ring, and earrings, with the ring on the left and the bracelet on the right.

"Did you check under your bed?" Mason asked, putting his black cape on. Other than that, he was simply dressed with dark blue slacks, a light grey dress shirt, and white sneakers.

Lili ducked down under her bed, then popped up with her medallion. "Got it. Thank you."

There was a knock on the door. "It's open!" Kushina called.

Trenton walked in, followed by what looked like a security guard with a large tray of drinks. "Hey hey, how's everyone doing?" They all said they were good. After a good night's sleep, they were mostly over the initial scare.

The guard set down his tray. "Hey, you're the guard from last night!" Madeleine said.

He smiled. He was pretty young, around his mid-twenties. He wore the standard green guard uniform, which showed he worked in one of the hotels. His two most notable features were his long purple and blue hair, which was tied into a ponytail, and his hot pink eyes.

"It's good to see you again Madeleine," He said. "I didn't get to properly introduce myself last night. I'm Samuel. I'm very glad you weren't harmed last night."

Madeleine put on her red and white jacket over her blue dress and started putting on her two red leaf hair pins. "Yeah, it was a little scary, but I'm okay."

"I'm happy to hear that." He picked up a napkin and wiped a drop that was sliding down one of the cups. "Well, after that little fiasco, Tianna and Terence decided that it would be better if you guys had a full time guard."

"So you are going to be our guard?" Azura asked. She was one of the few who didn't have a specific outfit for contests.

He nodded, and smiled at her. "Indeed. I am horribly embarrassed by what happened last night, but I can guarantee that it will not happen again." He gestured to the drinks. "I'm not big on bribery, but I did go ahead and get all of your favorite drinks in hope to make a good first impression. Your names are on the cups."

Azura looked a little unsure, and went and found her cup. She picked it up, smelled it, and looked slightly surprised. "This is the coffee from the Midnight Carbink."

"Wait seriously?" Leon said, putting his purple jacket on over his plain black t-shirt, which matched his black pants and shoes. He walked over and grabbed his cup. "Nice!"

Rhianne, who had just finished straightening her gold tiara and fiddling with her hair, which was now down instead of braided, walked over. She picked hers up and took a sip. "This is a smoothie from one of the food stands. How'd you know I like it?"

The guard smiled. "Well, I didn't exactly know. I was able to get a record of all of your purchases, and based what I got you off of that."

"Smooth," Kushina said, impressed.

Rhianne set her cup down on a coffee table. "While it is good, I don't even want to risk something getting on my dress." Her dress was pure white with a blue tint, so this was reasonable. It flowed behind her, and there was a hanging bit of cloth from her shoulder to her wrist, which looked like scarves hanging from her arms.

Kushina, not having a new outfit, didn't have this problem, and got her drink. "So, when do we head down?"

"Pretty soon," Terence said. "Once you all are ready, we can start moving."

Everyone finished their final preparations, and they all started walking out of the hotel. They made their way to the giant arena, where Terence left them in the waiting room to go get ready for the contest.

Everyone was starting to get a little nervous now. Almost everyone had a medallion out, and was thinking over their routines. Madeleine and Kumarie were looking at the list of Medallions, Madeleine thinking aloud about what the arenas would look like. And, to some of the contestants' surprise, Gimli was happily giving her his ideas too.

Once they had gotten through the list, she looked at Samuel, who was standing by the door. "After we do are routines, do you know where we're supposed to go?"

"I will be escorting you to an assigned room where, after Tianna and Terence announce the pairings, they will give you details about the next part of the competition."

"Hello everyone!" Said Tianna, her voice being projected to them through an intercom.

Samuel smiled. "And it seems it won't be long before I do that."

* * *

"Hello everyone!" Tianna said. The crowd erupted with cheers.

Terence, who was beside her on the announcers stand, waved to everyone. "Is everyone doing good today?" The crowd continued their loud cheer.

Tianna smiled. "That's good to hear. Now, the first round of the Kabota Resort is going to begin in a few minutes. First, Terence is going to give a recap of how this is going to work."

Terence nodded. "Well, first off, this is the coordination round. The contestants will perform a routine in an attempt to show off their pokemon's best features. However, there is two twists in this contest." There was a slight mumbling from the crowd, who only knew about one. Terence continued as though he didn't notice. "The first is the arena. Depending on the medallions that were or were not found, our contestants will be given a special arena. Not only must their routine showcase their pokemon, but it must also match the aesthetic of the arena." He smiled. "This is actually where strategy comes into play. The biggest part of this twist is that the order of contestants is random. If you don't have a medallion, you will be randomly selected one from what remains. Should someone have that medallion, it will be voided." There was a slight murmur at this. That was a pretty dangerous rule.

"Now, for the second twist. Usually there are three judges who judge the routines. But, for our contest, all of you will be the judge. You should see a small screen in front of you. After each contestant performs, you will rate them one through ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best. These results aren't permanent, so you can change them as the round goes on. After the final contestant, you will put in your final ratings. You can only use each number twice."

Tianna stepped forward. "Now, we will be doing these in groups of five, with a short break in between each set. The results will be quickly calculated right after the last round." She smiled at everyone. "So, are you ready to get started?" The crowd erupted, cheering as loud as they could. "Then let's bring out our first contestant, Marcus Lanson!"

Everyone cheered as Marcus walked happily out into the arena. He straightened his red ascot, which went over a white dress shirt and a black tux, and waved to the crowd.

"Now," Terence said as a small pedestal raised out of the ground. "Should you have a medallion, please place it on the pedestal."

Marcus pulled out his pretty green and pink medallion. He placed it on the pedestal, and it lowered back into the ground. Everyone waited, eager to see the arena change.

It happened gradually. A small rose sprouted in the middle of the arena. Then a few tulips popped up here and there. More and more variety of flowers grew out of the ground until the entire arena was covered. A breeze flew by, blowing Marcus's dreads and sending a few petals flying.

"Wow," Marcus said quietly, pretty impressed.

Terence smiled. "One of our more colorful and beautiful arenas. I present to all of you the floral arena!" He looked at Marcus. "You may begin now!"

Marcus pulled out a pokeball, which was incased in a capsule decorated with seals. "Alright then, Ivy, let's do this thing!" His roserade appeared in a shower of petals and sparkles, landing gracefully. She blew a kiss to the crowd, winking in Tianna and Terence's direction. The crowd went crazy.

"Now, let's get this show on the road," Marcus said. "Start with petal dance!"

Ivy nodded, and started spinning gracefully on one foot. Pink petals started to swirl around her. They started sweeping through the flowers, picking up more petals, giving the move more color. Marcus smiled. Here was the fun part. "Now, nature power!"

Ivy started to incorporate more steps into her dance. A giant green orb appeared over her head. Marcus nodded. He hadn't been sure if it would be energy ball or not. It continued to increase in size as Ivy danced. Soon it was a bit bigger than her.

"Now, magical leaf!"

With a fast and violent spin, blades of green energy shot out from Ivy. They then curled back in, and sliced through the growing energy ball. The attack blew apart as a bunch of mini energy balls, which struck most of the petals and showered her in sparkles. She stopped spinning, knelt down, and bowed to the crowd as the final petals and sparkles came down. The crowd cheered like crazy.

"And there you have it folks!" Tianna said. "Let's hear it for our first routine of the day!"

Marcus smiled and high fived Ivy. He then returned her to her pokeball, gave on last wave to the crowd, and made his way out of the arena. Once they left, the arena returned to normal.

"So, how do you think he did?" Tianna asked Terence.

"Well, it definitely complemented the arena well. However, being a bit of a dancer myself, you could just slightly tell that Ivy was pretty dizzy from that petal dance. She did a wonderful job of not showing it, though. And due to her ability natural cure, when she finished her routine, any dizziness was gone."

"Yes, it was a very impressive show." Tianna turned to the crowd, "However, you all are the judge, so put a number by that man's name!" She looked at her watch. While it didn't tell time at all, it was telling her what percent of people had already put in numbers. It reached eighty percent within ten seconds. "Now, the fun isn't over yet. We are now onto contestant number two. Give it up for Victor Styles!"

Victor walked out, not really acknowledging the cheering crowd. He was another one of the contestants that didn't have a coordination outfit. When the pedestal raised, he placed his open hand on it. "I don't have a medallion."

Terence nodded. "Very well. One will randomly be selected."

Everyone waited quietly. Then, slowly, grass started to grow. Then a giant shadow covered the arena, only to light it back up again when it became filled with stars and a bright moon. Everyone looked at the sky in amazement. Victor too looked surprised, but also slightly concerned.

"The Midnight arena, full of grace and wonder," Tianna said. "You may begin."

"Altaria, here we go." His pokemon appeared normally. Since he didn't know his arena, he hadn't put his pokemon in a capsule. "Let's start off simple. Dragon dance."

Altaria raised her wings, gracefully flapping them and moving side to side. She started getting faster, and soon, two blue dragons started flying around her. When she finished her dance, they collided, sending out a wave of blue light.

"Now, moonblast, followed by dragon rush," Victor said.

The moon started to glow, and Altaria shot a pink ball high into the sky. Then, with a giant flap of her wings, she let loose a multicolored energy that formed into a dragon. It raced up to meet the moonblast, and bit down on it.

The two attacks exploded, and the shock was enough to send Altaria out of the sky. She landed hard on the ground. Victor ran over to make sure she was okay. She was, and got back up. "Tough break, but still not bad," Terence said. "Let's hear it for these two!" The crowd cheered. Victor just let Altaria climb onto his shoulder instead of withdrawing her, and walked out just as the arena was switching back.

"That was a pretty devastating finale," Tianna said.

Terence nodded. "Yeah, the art of splitting a move isn't a simple one. But, all things considered, it could have been a much worse routine." He looked at the crowd, "though it is ultimately up to all of you. Did the routine have some redeeming qualities, or was it a disaster in your eyes?"

"Also, since he didn't have a medallion, one of them was just voided," Tianna said. Her watch was at eighty again. "So we will have to wait till later to see how that effects everything. But for now, let's give it up for Jacob Smith!"

Jacob came out slowly. He, like Victor, didn't look at the crowd or have a different outfit for coordinating. When the pedestal raised, he too put his hand on it, showing he had no medallion. "Looks like it's another random one," Terence said. "I wonder what this one will end up as?"

Unlike the previous two, it took very little time for this one to change. There was the sound of spraying water, and everyone looked up to see streams of paint come crashing down on the arena, covering it in different colors. More colors came from the sides, and some just seemed to seep up from the ground.

Terence laughed. "The greatest tribute we have to all artists: the color arena!" He smiled at Jacob. "You may begin."

Jacob blinked, surprised by the large amount of color. Then he pulled out a pokeball, which didn't have a capsule. "Vaporeon, you're in charge." His pokemon appeared, also seeming slightly surprised by the large amount of color. She also lifted her paws, which the paint was sticking to.

Jacob smiled, slightly having an idea. "Use surf."

Vaporeon nodded, and took off, running around the arena. Once she built up speed, a giant wave picked her up, which she swam on top of. The wave absorbed the paint, turning it into a beautiful cascade of colored water.

"Next use dig," Jacob said.

Vaporeon dove underground, and her wave of color went with her. She then started popping out and diving in at random places, her colored wave dancing behind her. Jacob hoped their last move would work. "Shoot the water up with hydro pump and use ice beam!"

Vaporeon didn't appear for a second. Then, a giant geyser of color shot out of the hole in the middle of the arena. Vaporeon jumped out of the hole in front of it, and shot it with a beam of blue energy. It froze, along with all of the other paint, making everything look like stained glass. Vaporeon landed nimbly in front of it, covered in paint, and smiled at the crowd. Everyone was going insane.

"Look at that!" Tianna said. "What a routine! Let's hear it for Jacob and Vaporeon!"

Vaporeon shook off all the paint, then happily walked over to her trainer. He smiled at her, then withdrew her into her pokeball. He walked out of the arena. The giant sculpture of water broke apart and fell to the ground, where the paint started to slowly fade away and the holes got refilled.

"That was a pretty strong routine," Terence said.

Tianna nodded. "Definitely. Jacob made full use of the arena while still perfectly showcasing his pokemon. That'll be a tough one to beat." To her surprise, her watch already showed everyone had placed their votes. "But that doesn't mean we don't get to see the other competitors try. Give it up for our next contestant, Larenz Esplain!"

Larenz walked confidently out, waving at the crowd. He dipped his giant teal hat, which had a feather in the brim, towards the crowd, which received him even more cheering. He also had on a teal vest, a black shirt, pants, and shoes, and even a long teal cape.

When Larenz reached the pedestal, he pulled out his pale blue medallion. He gently placed it down, and awaited the arena to change.

This one was weird to watch. It was almost as though the ground was rippling, and then was pale blue, dotted with clouds. It was as though Larenz was standing on the sky. And, due to the gasps of the crowd, Larenz noticed that this had happened to the entire arena. Tianna laughed. "Probably one of our more disorienting forms, but cool nonetheless: the sky arena! You may begin!"

Larenz pulled out his pokeball, which was in a capsule. "Braviary, come out with a solid brave bird!"

The pokeball burst open, and Braviary, glowing blue from his attack, shot into the sky, followed by a trail of feathers and confetti. Once he got pretty high, he made an extremely sharp turn back towards the ground, now plowing through the confetti. Once he was nearly level with Larenz, he extended his wings, ending the attack, and sending confetti and clouds flying out from him.

"Wow, they are gone right out of the gates!" Terence said.

Larenz smiled. "And we won't take too long to finish. Back into the sky with air slash, and then break them with superpower!"

Braviary wasted no time. He shot back into the sky, spinning around and sending blue blades of energy flying. Then he sped after them, glowing blue. The air slash had essentially made a spiral, which Braviary followed, heading back down. Each air slash broke apart into tiny sparkles as he hit them. Once he was done, the bird landed gently on the ground, finished.

There was a loud cheer from the crowd. "Well, there you have it folks!" Terence said. "It was short, but it was definitely sweet. Give it up for Larenz and Braviary!"

Larenz walked over to Braviary, patted him on the beak, and withdrew him. He then made his way out of the arena, which returned to its solid looking state.

Tianna looked at Terence. "So, what did you think of that routine?"

Terence shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not sure. The arena was matched, no doubt, but the routine did lack the certain feel that most routines have. Not to mention it was a little short. Though it did wonderfully show his pokemon's power." He looked at the crowd. "You all have your work cut out for you. Keep picking those numbers."

This round took slightly longer, but soon it was time for the next contestant. "All right," Tianna said, "we are at the fifth contestant. After this routine, there will be a short break, giving you time to stretch your legs or even talk about the routines. So, let's give a big welcome to Lili Grey!"

The crowd cheered as Lili walked out, but she didn't seem to notice them. She silently made her way to the pedestal that slowly raised from the ground. "Please place any medallion you have there," Terence said.

Lili slowly placed her medallion. There was a collective gasp from the crowd. The medallion was a dark blue, with a giant moon in the middle of it.

It was the medallion of the midnight arena

"Since your medallion is void, you will be randomly selected and arena," Tianna said.

Everyone waited with bated breath. Then, the arena started to open up. The ground was sliding to either side. Underneath it was metal ground, covered in gears. Once the ordinary ground was gone and the metal ground was fully revealed, multiple beams of steel shot up into the air.

Terence nodded. "One of the more interesting arenas, I present you the iron arena. You may begin!"

Lili pulled out a pokeball without a capsule. "May the Earth Mother be with us. Steelix, come on out!" The giant pokemon came out. He seemed slightly confused that he was the one out for the contest portion.

"Use Iron tail and draw on the ground."

Steelix's tail flashed white, then bacame iron. It slashed it through the ground, making deep cuts. He tried his best to move around gracefully as he did it, but it wasn't much of a success.

"Now, finish by lighting up the design with dragon pulse!" Lili said.

Steelix opened his mouth, and let loose a multicolored dragon at the edge of the design. It did light up the drawing, which was of a steelix head, but the attack didn't remain perfectly in the grooves, jumping out in some places. Plus, the drawing was only subpar.

Still, the crowd cheered enthusiastically. "A great adaption to an unexpected twist," Tianna said. "Let's hear it for our fifth contestant everyone!"

Lili withdrew her giant pokemon, waved to the crowd, and walked out of the arena. The ordinary ground moved back into place. Terence looked at Tianna. "That was a tough break."

Tianna nodded. "Yep, but that's just how the game goes. While the routine could have left a lot to be desired, she did do a wonderful job of adapting, even though she most likely already had planned her routine."

Terence looked at the crowd. "Well, the first five have finished. There are fifteen to go. What did all of you think? Who do you think was best so far? Think about it, and we will see all of you after the break!"

* * *

 **Finally, I finished the next chapter! I can finally confirm to everyone that I am not dead! I am so sorry there was such a long break. My ability to underestimate how busy I am is unrivaled. But, things are truly starting to calm down, so I will have more time two write. I will do my best to have a chapter in at least every two weeks, if not sooner than that.**

 **So what do you think? Which routine did you like best, who do you think right now is in the top spot? And do we think our mystery attacker will make another move any time soon?**


	7. The First Half Ends

"That was intense," Kushina said after Terence had dismissed everyone for a break. They had multiple tv screens in their room, so they got to watch all of the action. "Poor Lili. She had to adapt to such a tough arena with no warning.

"I know," Mason said. "That arena gave her practically nothing to work with."

"The void medallion rule is quite interesting," Gimli said. He didn't have a different coordinating routine, except for a red scarf, which he was playing with. "They seemed to have forgotten it when explaining things earlier."

"They probably wanted to make sure we looked for medallions," Mason said. "If we knew they could be voided, then there could have been the possibility that none of us looked for them, which would have been rather boring."

Gimli nodded. "So far two medallions are gone, and one has already been presented." He smiled. "This is rather fun, isn't it?"

"I'm going to go with nerve-racking," Dustin said. He was in a standard black tuxedo, but from the looks of it, it was a tad small. "I was barely able to do a routine on a normal arena. This'll probably be harder."

"Not necessarily." Mariana said, sitting down . She had on a tight long sleeved shirt, a black mini skirt, and knee high leather boots. She crossed her legs delicately. "One of the harder things about a plane arena is that you have to make everything. Any color or design you want, you must make. The themed arenas provide you with aesthetic, and you just have to match it. I almost think it's better than having to do it on a standard field."

"I guess," Dustin said, looking back at his paper, reviewing the medallions again.

Madeleine looked up from her paper. "Hey, Gimli, do you have a medallion?"

He smiled at her. "I sure do."

"Really. Can I see it?"

He chuckled. "You'll see it soon enough."

They all waited for a bit. Soon, Terence started having everyone go back to their seats. "This is it," Mason said. "After the next five, we will be halfway through this."

Samuel came back into the room. "Gimli, you're up next."

Gimli smiled, and hopped up. "Well, looks like I'll be seeing you guys later. All of you better aim for the top, because that's where you can expect to find me." He walked out of the room, led by their guard.

Madeleine blinked. "I cannot figure that guy out."

Mason seemed to be somewhere between a scowl and a pout. "Yeah, Mr. Wilderness is a difficult one. I don't know how I feel about him. Being cocky is my bit. He can't take it like that."

* * *

"Okay, the break is over!" Terence said. "If you haven't made your way back to your seats, you'll want to get on that, because we are going to be starting back up!"

"That's right!" Tianna said, smiling. "Five down, and five more to go until another break. So are you ready to start?" The crowd cheered like crazy. "Then give it up for Gimli Miralson!"

Gimli walked out, happily waving to the energetic crowd. The pedestal came out of the ground. "Place the medallion on if you have one," Terence said.

"Well, there is a slight problem with that," Gimli said. He started reaching into multiple pockets. Finally he was done, and held up what he had grabbed. The crowd gasped. He had nine different medallions in hand.

"Impressive!" Terence said. "Place whichever medallion you want to use on bottom, and the rest on top.

Gimli pulled one out, placed it on the pedestal, and then put the rest on top. The pedestal lowered all of them inside, then lowered into the ground. Everyone waited for the arena to change.

A breeze started swirling throughout the arena. It picked up in speed, and seemed to be pulling sand out of the walls. Soon the whole thing was covered in white sand dunes, which were being blown around by random gusts of wind. There was even a cactus standing alone in the corner. "A simple, yet tricky one," Tianna said. "The desert arena! Begin whenever you are ready!"

"Sorex, you're up!" He threw up a capsuled pokeball and a sandslash popped out surrounded in sparkles. She landed nimbly and waved at the crowd.

"Let's do this. Start with sandstorm." Sorex nodded, and stuck a glowing claw into the ground. Sand started to gently whip around her. It slowly and slowly got higher, picking up speed.

"Good, now start bringing it in around you." The sand started to slowly form a sphere around Sorex. "Now start countering it!"

Sorex's form started to glow red from inside the sand. "Now strike the ground with x-scissor!"

An X glowed in front of Sorex, and the attack, backed up by the counter, rang out with enough force that the sand turned instantly to glass, making a beautiful glass X. However, there was a small crack in the middle of it. Sorex noticed it, and jumped when it spread. It fractured through the glass design, then the whole thing fell apart loudly and ungracefully.

The crowd was quiet for a moment, then started cheering. "Well, not bad at all." Tianna said. "Let's hear it for this desert duo!"

Gimli walked over to Sorex, who looked rather sad. "Hey, you did fine. It just broke, that's all." He led his pokemon away from the arena, waving to the crowd as he left.

"So, what'd you think?" Tianna asked Terence.

He shrugged. "All and all, not my favorite. The slow sandstorm and glass sculpture were both very pretty, and very well matched the arena's look. However, Most of the routine had Sorex covered to where we couldn't see her."

"Yeah, and the sculpture falling didn't look like part of the plan," Tianna said. "But it isn't up to us. You all get the vote, so give him a number!"

Soon almost everyone had voted. "Now, it is time for our next contestant," Tianna said. "Let's hear it for Mariana Kovac!"

The crowd went crazy as Mariana walked out. She waved to the crowd, even blowing a kiss to them here and there. The pedestal raised up. Mariana pulled out a pretty dark green medallion, and placed it on top. It lowered down, and the arena started to change. It was very similar to Marcus's. A blade of grass appeared. Then another. They all just started to slowly grow up until the whole arena was covered in thick, luscious grass.

"A simple arena, but beautiful all the same," Terence said. "The grass arena! You may begin!"

She pulled out a pokeball. "Okay, Vivillon! Let's do this thing!" Her pokemon appeared, showered in pink sparkles and music notes. She was a standard modern patterned vivillon. She seemed happy enough to be out, but then looked pretty scared at the huge crowd looking at her.

"Hey," Mariana said, her pokemon turning to her, "don't worry about all of them. We can do this. _You_ can do this. I believe in you." Vivillon nodded, looking a bit more confident now. "So get out there and show them what you can do. Start making your design with powdered dance!"

Her pokemon nodded, then started gracefully flying around the arena, dropping black and green powder onto the ground. "Look at that!" Tianna said. "it seems powdered dance is a combination between sleep powder and powder!"

Once Vivillon was done, there were two giant vivillon wings drawn on the grass in black and various shades of green. Mariana smiled. "Now, gently give me a bug buzz and a hurricane."

Vivillon nodded, and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth, and out came soft, slow moving red waves, followed by a beautiful sound, like her natural noise mixed with an adorable chirp. She then started to flap her wings, sending a slight gust of wind flying around. The wind passed over the design, causing it to shift with the grass. When the red waves hit the walls, they came back, doing the same thing. The crowd gasped and started cheering. The two attacks, mixed perfectly, were causing the wings to flap. With one final wave of wind, the powder flew into the air, and vivillon stopped her attacks.

The crowd was going crazy. "Amazing!" Terence said. "Give it up for Mariana and her beautiful bug!"

"You did it!" Mariana cheered, running over to her pokemon. "I knew you could do it!" As she walked out with her pokemon she waved to the loving crowd.

"That was a pretty good one," Terence said.

Tianna nodded. "You're telling me. It took full use of the arena, and showcased the cute bug in a wonderful and simple way." She turned to the crowd. "Do you all feel like it was a good routine? Or do you feel as though it needed something else? You get to choose, so place those votes!"

Everyone was done almost instantly. "We are almost halfway through the second batch, folks," Terence said. "Hope you are still ready for more. Give it up for our next contestant, Lucas Cruz!"

Lucas walked out, politely waving and smiling to the crowd. He, like some of the others, didn't have a unique coordinating outfit.

He reached the pedestal and placed his hand on it, showing he didn't have a medallion. Tianna nodded. "An arena will now be randomly selected."

This arena change happened fast. A giant rock looking roof sprung up above everyone, sealing them off and momentarily cutting off all light. Then, a bright blue glow appeared. Various pools of blue water appeared around the arena, and everything now looked like it was made of stone.

"One of our more sturdy looking arenas." Tianna said. "I give you the cave arena! Begin whenever you are ready!"

Lucas pulled out a pokeball. "Lucario, I'm counting on you!" His pokemon appeared, showered in a few silver sparks. His pokeball had surprisingly been capsuled.

"Okay, let do this. Bone rush then stone edge."

Lucario delicately put his paws together, and when he pulled them apart, a glowing blue bone was there. He twirled it around a bit, then struck the ground. A wave of blue radiated out from him, and a ring of glowing blue stones appeared out of the ground.

Lucas nodded. "So far so good. Now, destroy them all with aura sphere."

Lucario stuck the bone rush into the ground, then put his paws together. A glowing blue sphere appeared, but it looked slightly different from a normal aura sphere. It seemed slightly smaller, and brighter, as though it was more compact.

Once Lucario was satisfied, he threw it at one of the rocks he created. It broke it, and came flying back. Lucario grabbed the bone and swung at the blue sphere, sending it towards a different blue stone. It broke and the sphere came back again. This continued for a few stones.

Then things went very wrong.

Lucario turned to hit the aura sphere again, but his foot slipped on one of the stones that popped up. His eyes widened, and he moved the bone as to bunt the attack instead of swing at it. However, he didn't get a paw behind it properly in time, so when the sphere hit it, both attacks came back and collided with his chest.

The explosion was massive. The force threw Lucario into the wall, which he bounced off and fell unceremoniously onto the ground. His blue stones disappeared.

Tianna and Terence were both on their feet. "Whoa! Is he okay?" Tianna yelled. Lucas ran over to his pokemon to check if he was okay. Putting one of Lucario's arms around his shoulders, he helped him stand up. The crowd cheered.

"Tough break, but we definitely got a good view of this pokemon's power!" Terence said. "Give them a hand!"

Moving slowly and waving at the crowd, Lucas helped his pokemon out of the arena, which was filled once again with sunlight as the arena changed back. Tianna sighed. "That was really rough."

Terence nodded. "Yeah, it was a big shame considering the potential of the routine. The extra condensed aura sphere was good for destroying the moves, but it was probably the reason both attacks were so devastating. Though, it really was a good display of power. But what do you all think? Was it redeemable, or was the explosion just too much?"

It only took a few seconds for everyone to finish. "Alright, here we go again," Terence said. "Give it up for our next contestant, Ethan Sandar!"

Ethan walked out, giving the crowd a slight smile and a polite wave. His coordination outfit was simple; just a black long sleeve shirt and grey jeans. He walked up to the pedestal, and hesitated. "Please place a medallion on if you have one," Tianna said.

Ethan took a deep breath, and pulled out his medallion. It was a really pale shade of pink, with white swirls all over it. He placed it on the pedestal, and waited for the arena to switch.

There was the sound of rushing air, and the entire arena, including the stands, was covered with pink, sweet smelling smoke. When it cleared, the change shocked just about everyone. The entire ground appeared to be made of cake. All around there were sweets of all kinds and sizes. There was everything from cake to ice cream to bubblegum.

Tianna and Terence both smiled. "This is my personal favorite arena," Terence said. "The most delectable one there is: the sweet arena! You may begin!"

Ethan pulled out a capsuled pokeball. "Alright, here we go. Show them what you got, Orbz!" A reuniclus appeared, accented by a few hearts and stars.

"Alright, let's just keep this simple." He looked around. "Use psychic to grab those gumdrops and that chocolate bar!"

His pokemon happily flew around, stopping over four giant gumdrops. Reuniclus's eyes glowed blue, and he picked them up. He took them back towards the middle, picking up a giant piece of chocolate on the way. He set the piece of chocolate on the four gumdrops making something that looked like a table. Then he picked up some of the smaller desserts, and set them up on top of the chocolate.

Ethan smiled. "Now finish up with substitute!"

Reuniclus sped over to one side of his table, and spun around. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, and in his place sat a giant stuffed green dinosaur. He then appeared on the other side, happily eating a piece of cake and smiling at the crowd.

"Wonderful!" Tianna said above the cheering of the crowd. "Absolutely adorable!"

Ethan walked over and high fived his pokemon. He then returned him, and walked out of the arena, which reverted back to normal after a puff of white smoke.

"That was cute," Tianna said.

"It really was," Terence agreed. "It was simple and enjoyable. Though it wouldn't have even been a routine without the special arena." He turned to the crowd. "So did you all enjoy it, or was it not sweet enough for your taste? Put in your votes now."

After a quick glance at her watch, Tianna smiled. "We are almost halfway there, folks. We have one more contestant before another break. So, give it up for our tenth contestant, Alex Black!"

Alex came walking out, happily smiling to the cheering crowd. For this event he had donned a black tuxedo and a white tie. The pedestal came out and Alex pulled out a vibrant yellow medallion. He flipped it like a coin, and it landed solidly on the pedestal.

There was a loud crash, and the arena started to darken. Above them, large black clouds were forming. There lightning zoomed around from cloud to cloud, followed by a loud boom of thunder. A huge gust of wind flew by, nearly knocking Alex off his feet.

"This'll be a hard one," Tianna said. "With devastating wind and various lightning strikes, I present you the thunder arena! Begin whenever you are ready!"

Alex pulled out a pokeball. "Amphy, it's your time to shine!" He threw the ball up, and an Ampharos appeared, surrounded by sparks of blue lightning.

"Let's get this moving. Start with hidden power!"

Amphy held his arms out, and multiple pale blue spheres started circling him. Then they spread out, and remained suspended around the arena.

Alex nodded. "Great, now send a dragon pulse into the sky!"

Amphy leaned back, and clapped his hands together, glowing blue. He shot a multicolored beam into the sky, which started to take the form of a dragon as it turned back towards the ground. Alex pointed at it. "After it!"

Amphy jumped extremely high into the sky. Turning to face the judges table, just like the attack was, he just barely got inside the dragons open mouth, making it appear as though the dragon was a giant, ornate headpiece.

Alex snapped his fingers. "Now, thunderbolt!"

The attack and Amphy soared to the ground, and multiple lightning strikes hit the many spheres suspended around the arena. They all broke, each destroying part of the dragon pulse. When Amphy landed, he pointed at the sky, just the top part of the dragons mouth still in place above his head.

The crowd was going crazy. "Absolutely astounding!" Terence said. "There couldn't be a better way to go on break! Give it up for them folks!"

Alex and Amphy happily waved to the crowd, Amphy's dragon pulse having finally diminished. They walked out of the arena, which brightened up once again.

Tianna smiled. "That was really cool."

Terence nodded. "That was honestly a very well put together routine. It well accented the arena and the pokemon, I think."

Tianna looked at her watch, then the crowd. "Welp, we are now halfway through the contest portion of this competition! Things are starting to heat up. Did anyone from this batch stand out to you, or are you still waiting for that one perfect routine? Will our remaining contestants be able to keep up with the competition? We'll find out soon enough. See you after the break!

* * *

 **Yay, more routines! So we are halfway through; which routine was everyone's favorite? And who do you think will be paired up with who based on the current routines? Hopefully it won't be too long before we see the rest of our contestants. See you all then!**


End file.
